Friday, January 14, 2011

PESHAWAR: Condemning the blockade of the Thall-Parachinar Road, elders of the Turi tribe from Kurram Agency on Thursday demanded compensation for the loaded trucks, plundered and torched by militants on the main road in lower part of Kurram Agency.

Addressing a news conference here, Dr Syed Riaz Hussain Shah, president of the Pakistan People's Party, Kurram Agency chapter, said a convoy of 25 loaded trucks and tankers was travelling under protection of security forces from Peshawar to Parachinar on January 4 when it was looted and torched by the militants.

He said the looted and destroyed goods and vehicles were worth an estimated Rs400 million, and asked the government to compensate the owners and dealers for their material losses. The PPP leader was accompanied by Haji Gulab Hussain, Ishaq Hussain Bangash and dozens of other elders from the Turi tribe of Kurram Agency.

He said that local tribesmen who had given shelter to the militants and terrorists in lower part of Kurram Agency must be held responsible for such acts as they had been targetting people from a particular sect and tribe to settle scores and for their vested interest. He demanded full implementation of the Murree Peace Agreement between the Turi and Mangal tribes to restore peace and harmony in Kurram Agency.

To a question, he said some 2,000 people had died and more than 5,000 were injured since the clashes erupted between the two tribes since 2007 and also led to closure of the Thall-Parachinar Road. He said the tribesmen in upper Kurram Agency were facing a shortage of food and medicines due to the closure of the road and blockade of all routes to Afghanistan.